"The space to work on masculinity is the beginning of a structural change", declares the rector during the presentation of "The Man We Want To Be"

acte espai masculinitats

The launching of the workspace for masculinities at UAB has featured the rector, the secretary-general, and the president of the CONEXUS association. This latter has exposed the psychosocial principles, the methodology, and the results of this pioneering support service for men in state universities. The event has concluded with the recognition that men in the UAB community play an essential role in the fight against gender-based and LGTBI-phobic violence.

30/10/2023

The rector has opened the event recognising the importance of working together with men to eradicate gender-based and LGTBI-phobic violence. He has then presented the CONEXUS association for psychosocial care, education and research, which “has a vast long history in the field of transforming masculinity”, after Lafuente’s declarations. 

The CONEXUS president has started acknowledging UAB’s efforts to offer this service for men, which he hopes will “create a space of trust that will continue over time”. To explain the principles that support this initiative, he has first mentioned that CONEXUS is part of an international network, MenEngage, which works with men of all ages to achieve gender equality. Ginés has said this service is based on the idea of Nobel Laureate José Saramago: “Violence is a men’s problem, but it is suffered by women”. 

After the association's representant, men also have a socially constructed gender identity, therefore, “leaving women alone in the fight against gender-based violence means making women responsible for a problem that belongs to men”. Moreover, “we refuse the essentialist’s principles, staying away from culpability and speaking of responsibility", Ginés declares. He adds that “we men have to become aware of the privileges we have and the position we occupy in order to lose them and make a structural change”. However, after the psychologist’s explanations, “research reveals that men benefit tremendously from gender equality, in aspects such as mental health”.    

He has reaffirmed the effectivity of creating spaces of trust so that men can rethink hegemonic masculinity through the gender lenses. In fact, he has explained that these services follow Rus Funk’s continuum, which classifies men’s attitudes towards gender-based violence. As a consequence, these spaces are especially addressed to those who show interest in freeing themselves of hegemonic masculinity. 

Oriol Ginés has also reviewed the legal documents that support these projects. “In 2008, the UN already specified the need to have men in consideration in the fight against gender-based violence”, Ginés has declared quoting the UN Women report, The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality. As stated in this text, Ginés summarized that the United Nations gives men a crucial role in the sharing of family responsibilities, the prevention of violence against women, the transmission of HIV/AIDS and the generation of role models for young people. The president of CONEXUS has reaffirmed these UN principles with Article 16 of the 2014 Council of Europe Convention, the law 11/2014 for gender equality of the Generalitat and the 2/2022 of the Spanish State. 

The presentation closed with a final speech by the rector, who explained  that he himself thought that hegemonic masculinity was a thing of the past. However, he assured that it is a very present problem today and that the UAB is committed to the construction of a feminist university, encouraging the men of the UAB community to turn to the service. Lafuente: "This working space for masculinities is the beginning of a structural change at the university. Therefore, I encourage all the men of this community to use it". 

The masculinities workspace comes to the faculties in the form of free workshops for the men of the UAB student body and staff. The dates of the workshops are: 

- Workshops for students:  

  • October 26th from 1:00PM to 3:00 PM at the School of Engineering  

  • October 30th   from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM at the Faculty of Sciences  

  • November 7th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities  

  • November 14th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology  

Registration form for students  

- Workshops for staff:  

  • November 2nd from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Faculty of Communication Studies  

  • November 9th from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities  

  • November 16th from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology  

Registration form for staff members 

The faculty mentioned in each workshop is only the place where it is held; you do not have to belong specifically to it to participate.  

The workshops last two hours and consist of very dynamic activities that are organized in three blocks: masculinity as a construction, masculinity and violence, and caring masculinities. At the end of the workshops, a group of men will be formed to work on different aspects of their masculinity with CONEXUS psychologists. The meetings of this group are scheduled for November 21 and 28, December 5, 12 and 19. The schedule is from 13:00 to 15:00. 

More information: Workshops for masculinity offered by the UAB